"The Review"

It’s that time of year again! Summer vacations, end of the Fiscal Year and the …..Performance Appraisal review process. Most of the IT Supervisors have been putting some time and effort into preparing performance reviews for that past year. While many Supervisors will likely tell you that this process is laborious and time consuming it does provide an opportunity to review past accomplishments and give a hard look at the near future.

This process is always interesting to me. At times in my career, the process has reminded me quite a bit of a Psychology 101 Lab event. It’s amazing to me to learn of the “expectations” that can be a part of this exchange. If I have heard it once, I have heard this a hundred times regarding the Performance Review itself: “nothing my Supervisor said is true…” or “my supervisor only put the bad stuff in there…never the good things I do…”, “it’s such a waste of time—it means nothing…” As one of my friends typically says....Hmmmm do you really think so?

I’d like to share of my thoughts on this topic …. Having been a “supervisor” for the vast majority of my 24+ years with this organization, I do have some experience in this area.

First and foremost, this process can be extremely valuable---but only if it is taken seriously and BOTH parties approach the exchange with an OPEN mind. The annual review is not the place for dumping from either party. It should be a place to review all past accomplishments, areas where the employee has performed well and areas where an employee could make some adjustments (improvements).

Secondly: Neither party is GOD, neither is the Alpha or Omega, NOBODY is perfect. A Supervisor WILL NOT remember ALL of the “good” things you have done in the past year..And likely they will not recall all of the not so good things that were done. To expect anything different isn’t realistic. Expecting a Supervisor to not take note of areas you’ve fallen short, is unrealistic and frankly, they wouldn’t be doing their job. The same is true for the areas you’ve done well….

Third: The process itself is meant as a conduit to meaningful discussions from both directions. A formal chance to interact, share, recall…and PLAN. Don’t sit there and let the Supervisor perform a “solo”…jump in, share your thoughts…EXCHANGE information!

Fourth: A little know fact…..Supervisors are HUMAN too! As hard as it is to believe, we make mistakes too, we may not recall all the details or facts….if that’s true, bring it up. If you disagree with a rating or comment---say so…but do so in a professional respectful manner and you might be surprised at the reaction.

There are many stories I could share about my experiences giving performance reviews, some good and some not so good, but the bottom line is that I feel this tool is a valuable one to help understand where the employee stands on performing to expectations. Like it or not…we do have to measure up to something.

As the reviews are being written and rewritten to find the right words to express, it is also a time for you as the employee to devise your work objectives for the coming Fiscal Year. We have many new and exciting projects budgeted for in the coming year; Exchange and Outlook, IDF, Office 2007, Visual Studio upgrade, CMT device changes, and numerous Applications to be written, etc, etc. I’m actually excited this year to read the Goals that each of you will devise this year. I’m looking for staff to “stretch” themselves this year, challenge themselves to grow, while at the same time addressing the normal day to day operations of the IT business.

Put some thought into your Goals and Objectives (IT IS your future!) and lets prepare ourselves for a challenging and yet rewarding new Fiscal Year. Also give some thought, prepare yourself for your Performance Review and take the opportunity to make the process work as intended.

TAFN